Oakland’s School Board Picks Crisis-Tested Leader as Interim Superintendent

Oakland’s school board has selected an interim superintendent with decades of experience leading the city’s schools — and managing its crises.

Denise Saddler will replace longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell in July, ahead of the 2025–26 school year, the district announced Friday.

Saddler has worn many hats during her decades at Oakland Unified School District, from teaching to leading as a principal to working as an area superintendent in the district’s central office. She also served as the president of the Oakland Education Association, the district’s teachers union, for six years.

One constant throughout her career, according to former school board President Sam Davis, is putting out fires.

“She’s very used to these interim crisis roles,” he said.

Saddler headed Sankofa Academy during its merger with Kaiser Elementary School in 2019, and has most recently been on a contract as a “turnaround school interim principal” and principal coach at OUSD.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Saddler has “stabilized school climates across multiple sites by restructuring leadership teams and driving instructional turnaround” in her contract role.

In the early 2010s, Saddler was part of the team that oversaw OUSD school closures and mergers. She “spearheaded the successful closure and transition of 5 schools, coordinating the reassignment of over 800 students and redeployment of staff, ensuring educational continuity and minimizing disruption,” according to her LinkedIn account.

“Dr. Saddler is a veteran Bay Area educator with more than 40 years of service,” the district said in a statement Friday.

The announcement comes just a day after Johnson-Trammell made her first public statements since announcing she would leave the district a year before her contract was set to expire.

Johnson-Trammell, who’s been credited with OUSD’s recovery and stabilization after bankruptcy and fiscal crisis, signed a separation agreement with the school board in April amid ideological disagreements.

“We have to be aligned in terms of what it takes to continue to sustain financial stability, to get the [improved] academic outcomes that I talked about in detail, so if we’re not on the same page, then it’s time to respectfully part ways,” Johnson-Trammell said when asked about her premature departure Thursday.

OUSD is set to exit state receivership in June, more than 20 years after it was bailed out of bankruptcy by the state in 2003. That will mark the end of increased state and county oversight in the district’s decision-making, as long as it is able to keep its finances in check.

Saddler’s crisis management skills are more than likely to come in handy to handle fallout from the interpersonal tensions, botched budget policies and financial risks that have plagued OUSD in the first six months of the year.

The district’s principals and teachers have been in an escalating conflict, and the school board has received stern warnings from district and county education officials to rein in spending over the next few years to stay solvent.

According to spokesperson John Sasaki, the board is finalizing contract terms with Saddler and will formally approve her employment agreement at an upcoming meeting.

“We thank our community for its continued engagement throughout this process and look forward to officially welcoming Dr. Saddler once the contract is finalized,” he said in a statement. “Together, we remain committed to providing every OUSD student with the thriving schools they deserve.”